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Sean Taylor Dead at 24

Living here in DC this a big deal. People are VERY dedicated to the Skins here, I'd venture to say moreso than Indianapolis fans are dedicated to the Colts. That stadium is full of enthusiatic fans even during off years.

It's hard to fathom someone dying this way at 24. He's had a lot of trouble with people for various reasons (the fact he kept a machete close to him all the time shows that he must have feared for his life) and it's sad that it ended this way, seeing that he had seemingly matured significantly since the birth of his daughter 18 months ago. The mistakes he made in the past look liked they caught up to him while he was trying to rectify his life.

MIAMI November 27, 2007, 8:51 a.m. ET · Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday, a day after he was shot at home. He was 24.

Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.

"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "It's a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."

He said Taylor died early Tuesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday.

Doctors had been encouraged late Monday when Taylor squeezed a nurse's hand, according to Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins' vice president of football operations. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn't sure how he had squeezed the nurse's hand.

"Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something," Sharpstein said.
Taylor was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.

Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.

Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.

"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."

The shooting happened in the pale yellow house he bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. Eight days before the attack someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor's home, according to police.

"They're really sifting through that incident and today's incident," Miami-Dade Detective Mario Rachid said, "to see if there's any correlation."

Born April 1, 1983, Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is police chief of Florida City.

A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor rarely granted interviews. But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart — an emerging locker room leader.

Especially since the birth of his daughter.

"From the first day I met him, from then to now, it's just like night and day," Redskins receiver James Thrash said. "He's really got his head on his shoulders and has been doing really well as far as just being a man. It's been awesome to see that growth."

An All-American at the University of Miami, Taylor was drafted by the Redskins as the fifth overall selection in 2004. Coach Joe Gibbs called it "one of the most researched things" he'd ever done, but the problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL's mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the team.

Taylor also was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006.

Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor's home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.

Taylor said the end of the assault case was like "a gray cloud" being lifted. It was also around the time that Jackie was born, and teammates noticed a change.

"It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," said Redskins teammate and close friend Clinton Portis, who also played with Taylor at the University of Miami. "But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."

On the field, Taylor's play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he'd ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.

"I just take this job very seriously," Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. "It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.'

"So I just say, 'I'm healthy right now, I'm going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?' And that's whatever it is, whether it's eating right or training myself right, whether it's studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself."

His hard work was well-noted.

"He loved football. He felt like that's what he was made to do," Gibbs said. "And I think what I've noticed over the last year and a half ... is he matured. I think his baby had a huge impact on him. There was a real growing up in his life."

Re: Sean Taylor Dead at 24

It's going to be interesting to see how this one unfolds. I read the thing about the machete and naturally that throws up significant red flags.

Yeah, but it made me pretty mad to hear Stephan A. Smith speculating about it on the radio today.

He said that in his mind (no evidence for this) it wasn't a burglary, since a burgler would not go into a bedroom, they would steal stuff elsewhere and get out. Then if confronted, a burgler would shoot you in the head or in the chest, not (Smith's words) "in the groin" so it was probably "something to do with a woman".

I've heard "leg" not groin for the gunshot, but it will all get sorted out by the cops.

It just made me mad that he would already be jumping to the conclusion that somebody that Sean Taylor knew killed him over a woman (presumably an affair).

Re: Sean Taylor Dead at 24

Yeah, but it made me pretty mad to hear Stephan A. Smith speculating about it on the radio today.

He said that in his mind (no evidence for this) it wasn't a burglary, since a burgler would not go into a bedroom, they would steal stuff elsewhere and get out. Then if confronted, a burgler would shoot you in the head or in the chest, not (Smith's words) "in the groin" so it was probably "something to do with a woman".

I've heard "leg" not groin for the gunshot, but it will all get sorted out by the cops.

It just made me mad that he would already be jumping to the conclusion that somebody that Sean Taylor knew killed him over a woman (presumably an affair).

Stephan A., just wait for some facts and let him RIP.

It really is no surprise at all that Screamin A. Smith would do this.

I realize sports analysts have jobs to do, but please give it time. Sean Taylor was a stand up guy...I bet you he was going to be one of the best safeties to ever play the game. He could have easily been a pro bowl LB as well. Its a damn shame that he died so young. Nobody should go at such a young age..especially with a young daughter. I specifically remember in college when the Canes came and played the Bulldogs, we were all yelling at the guy trying to make him mad and throw him off his game and he just kept turning around and laughing it off. What made it more sweet, for him, is that he laid a monster hit on David Greene and stared directly at a ton of fans and had a huge smile on his face.

Re: Sean Taylor Dead at 24

Yeah, but it made me pretty mad to hear Stephan A. Smith speculating about it on the radio today.

He said that in his mind (no evidence for this) it wasn't a burglary, since a burgler would not go into a bedroom, they would steal stuff elsewhere and get out. Then if confronted, a burgler would shoot you in the head or in the chest, not (Smith's words) "in the groin" so it was probably "something to do with a woman".

I've heard "leg" not groin for the gunshot, but it will all get sorted out by the cops.

It just made me mad that he would already be jumping to the conclusion that somebody that Sean Taylor knew killed him over a woman (presumably an affair).

Stephan A., just wait for some facts and let him RIP.

I don't see how it couldn't be a targeted murder. He was continually being threatened someone broken in to his home and put a knife on his bed. Also, Stephen A. Smith is an entertaining analysis but his analogies are sub par to a 3rd grader. It doesn't make sense for it to be over a girl, he had a long term girlfriend (his fiance). I'm not an expert, but I don't see how anyone can be in this instance. If I had a guess, just going by what i know; It sure sounds like jealous friends took it to another level. Maybe they didn't mean to kill him, just wanted to end his career; which explains the shot to the leg. They missed the first time, and hit an artery the second. Looks like the kid was either scarred or a bad shot and ended up killing him instead of supplying a non-lethal career ending injury to him.

Maybe justice is on the way the Miami Police detained/holding 3 that could be in connection to the murder.

Re: Sean Taylor Dead at 24

AP
Nearly six years after the death of former Washington safety Sean Taylor, a 23-year-old man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the case.

A jury has found Eric Rivera Jr. guilty of both second-degree murder and armed burglary in the death of Taylor, which court testimony indicates was the result of a botched attempt to steal cash from Taylor’s home.

Rivera, who was 17 at the time of the killing, could be sentenced to life in prison.

Although police said Rivera confessed to shooting Taylor days after Taylor’s death on November 27, 2007, he later claimed the confession was coerced. In his confession, Rivera said he and four others planned to go to Taylor’s home and steal from him, believing Taylor kept more than $100,000 in cash in his house, and also thinking he would be playing in a game at Tampa Bay at the time. Taylor was actually recuperating from a knee injury and did not go to Tampa.

Three of the other men Rivera implicated in his confession are still awaiting trial. A fourth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

Re: Sean Taylor Dead at 24

MIAMI -- A Florida jury has convicted a man prosecutors called the ringleader of a botched 2007 Miami-area burglary that ended with the fatal shooting of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor.

The 12-person jury deliberated nearly four hours Tuesday before finding 25-year-old Jason Mitchell guilty of first-degree felony murder and armed burglary. Trial testimony indicated that Mitchell hatched the plot for five Fort Myers-area men to burglarize Taylor's home near Miami after previously seeing large amounts of cash there.

The man who authorities say fired the fatal shot, Eric Rivera Jr., was convicted last fall of second-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years behind bars.

Two other men await trial. A third has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary.

Taylor was Pro Bowl safety who also starred at the University of Miami.